In conventional communication terminals, such as mobile phones, there is no single UI location that can show at a glance all active ongoing communications. While individual applications may show their individual status, e.g., active instant messaging (IM) conversations in an IM application, there is no coherent view presented to the user of all active communication sessions. Additionally, in conventional practice any switching between communication sessions is accomplished via individual applications.
As a result of these shortcomings, the management of multiple simultaneous communication sessions is difficult for the user to handle because the communication management is fragmented. In addition, changing a mode within a session is not possible with the current controls. Further, as new communication modes and technologies evolve they can be expected to support multiple simultaneous communication sessions. These communication sessions can by their very nature, however, be quite different, e.g. long term, tranquil with minimal user activity frequency, or short term with more frequent interaction from the user required. The different natures of the underlying possible communications only serves to compound the problem of managing multiple simultaneous communications.